Life as Dudley Dursley
by W.Kathy
Summary: Being a character in Harry Potter series is what any fan would have wished for, whether in passing thought or fervently. But being reborn in a warped Harry Potter world as the detested bully cousin of Harry Potter, is probably not what most would wanted..
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I'm only going to do one of these for the entire fiction, and not at the beginning of every chapter. I do not own any of the characters in this fic relating to Harry Potter, all rights reserved for J.K Rowling.

A/N: Shameless self-insert yes, but something different (I hope). I don't have a beta so please pardon any spelling and grammatical errors, thank you.

Pairings: None at the moment, but I'm a fan of slash (male/male) relationships so there could be both slash and het pairings in the later chapters.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 1: Life before Dudley Dursley

I must admit that in my first life, well, the first life I have memories of, I was an avid Harry Potter fan-girl. Many times when I read the series, I wished to be a character in the book so that I could change the fate of my favorite characters, for I was so certain they do not deserve the deaths nor suffering that J.K Rowling have sentenced them to. Of course, that was when I was still a naïve, young girl, and that was a phase I soon passed. Though the thoughts of escaping the mundane life I had (sleep, eat, work, pay bills, eat, sleep… well you get the drift) were never far from my mind. In fact, even when I grew older in my first life I was still captivated by fantasy-related stuff such as animation, role-playing games and books.

By now you must be wondering, why do I keep saying "my first life"? The answer, which you smart readers have probably already guessed is, yes, I have been through a few lifetimes, each time with the memories of my previous life intact. I'm not sure why or how that happened, for each time I passed from my previous life to the next, it was a foggy process that never seemed to make much sense. There wasn't any voice explaining anything like what some people described in their near death experiences. All I encountered through each passing were some blurry light, the feeling I have been run over by a bus, and disorientation.

Funny the first time I died, I was really ran over by a bus. An unfortunate accident, not something I expected but I didn't mind very much, for my first life was as boring as watching paint dry, something I don't really want to go into much details. Now, my second life however, was much more interesting, and dangerous. The stuff of a fantasy role-playing game, but not one I have played or read about before. In fact, I still recall being convinced I was in a coma when stuck in my second life the first few months. For how could I not when I was reborn into that fantasy world not as a hero, princess or even the side-kick, but as a monster? And not even the boss monster that the hero usually gets to face at the end of his journey. No, I was just a run-of-the-mill, ugly, and not very powerful monster wondering around lost in a forest with others of my own kind. Fortunately, my kind of monster were not the heartless, cannibalistic type that kills their own, but rather, they are fiercely protective of their own pack and rather nurturing, I would say. I'm not sure what's the name of our species, as monsters are really not all that concerned with names, but we are the four-legged sort with vicious claws and sharp fangs. From a normal working class woman to a monster was an adjustment that took a while to make, but it was either be flexible and adapt to my new life, or go crazy. Life as a monster was not as long as that of a human, especially when you are hunted for your fur, claws, fang and whatever else the hunters wanted to kill us for. I was in that life with my pack for about 5 years before getting killed by a hunter. It was a short 5 years and I still miss my pack, but I learnt a lot from that life. For some strange reason, besides memories of my previous life, the skills I learnt do get added to my next. I guess that's probably why I managed to survive with my sanity intact as one of the skills I picked up was mind magic, or in Harry Potter terms, Occulmency and Legilimency. That's what I learnt in my third life as a mutant, actually that's my specialty in that life. I could protect my mind from invasion, as well as invade the minds of others. Suffice to say, I learnt a lot from that life, being able to pick up knowledge from any mind I came across was a very handy skill. Unfortunately, mutants weren't a popular and commonly accepted bunch in that world I was in, much like being the minority of muggles, with the majority being people with Voldemort type of prejudice towards muggles. Hmm, now that I think about it, the setting of that world was somewhat similar to that of X-men, if you have ever watched that movie you will know what I mean.

Again, with the odds against a mutant, even with my awesome skill of mind magic, agility and monster-like instincts (sensing danger, for example) that carried over from my second life, I didn't last long in my third life either. Mainly due to the fact that I wasn't physically strong and there wasn't any other mutants I encountered who were willing to stand with me once they knew about my mind reading skills. I don't blame them, as I didn't know how to turn off my mind reading, and it is an invasive thing that most people wouldn't be comfortable, much less mutants who were in general a paranoid bunch. It was about 12 years into my third life before I was captured and sentenced to death by the government of that world. The only good thing that came from living to that age was I didn't need to go through puberty as a teenage mutant girl.

At that point of time in life, or lives, I was pretty much wishing I could have some peace, or if I have to restart my life again as someone else in another world, to at least have a normal kind of setting. I could have kicked myself for wishing that, for who else but the Dursleys were as obsessed with wishing to have a normal life? That's the only reason I could think of when I was reborn as Dudley Dursley.


	2. Chapters 2 to 6

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 2: Life as a baby Dudley

Having been a female in my previous three lives, be it a woman, monster or mutant, was something that was constant and sort of comforting. Therefore it was really strange to find a few extra _something _in my pants… or rather diapers, in my current life. That was the first thing I noticed when I became conscious of my new body. Then came the different voices in my head and I realized I still have my mind magic with me. I quickly picked out from the nearby minds that I am a newborn baby boy named Dudley Dursley and my mother, the thin and tired looking woman holding me is Petunia Dursley. The proud and fat man standing at her side is my father…or I prefer the term, sperm donor, for I didn't like Vernon Dursley at all. Processing all this only took seconds, which I realized that unless the familiar names were a coincidence, it is likely I have been reborn into the world of Harry Potter. How similar this world would be compared to the books I have read in my first life remains to be seen.

Being a baby, or rather, a human baby, is truly boring. There was nothing much I could do except eat, sleep and poop. My eyes and motoring skills were still developing at a few months old, and there wasn't much I could do. It was fortunate I could still read minds, at least that provided some entertainment. However, that soon became a bore as the minds I come across as a baby is much limited to mostly Petunia and Vernon. Logically, I know I should refer to them as mom and dad in my mind so that I will get used to calling them that when I develop my speech, but they were really unlikeable people. Much more so than when I read about them in the books, for now I could read their minds and they are some of the most selfish and shallow people I have ever encountered in my lives. Petunia was always thinking about showing off her new baby boy to the neighbors, rubbing into their faces how lucky she is to have a healthy, cute baby in addition to her lovely house and adoring husband in the _normal_ neighborhood. She especially liked to bring me to one of her neighbors, the Huntingtons, as the wife was still childless after nearly a decade in their marriage. Her taunts to the poor childless couple, both verbal in silent in her mind, sickened me.

Vernon, on the other hand, was truly proud to have a son without the arrogant pride that Petunia has. However, the way he was led around the nose by Petunia doesn't instill much respect I have for him. The way he thought of his subordinates in the drilling business he's in also wasn't flattering. According to him, they were all idiots that wouldn't know how to do a single thing without his clever guidance. Having met a few of his workers in one of the baby parties, and reading their minds further enhanced the impression I have of Vernon, a moron who overestimates his own intelligence and have the need to put down others to feel good about himself. It is no wonder that the original Dudley Dursley in the books became such a bully with a parent like Vernon as an example he looks up to.

It was about a year into my life as Dudley (oh how I hate the name), that I started to feel a strange presence in my body. It was a subtle thing I didn't pay much attention to at first, but as I grew bored with reading minds and being a _normal_ baby, I became more aware of this presence in my body. It was a warm core of something that radiated into my mind, alerting me to the new ability I have in this life. With cautiousness, I poked into this thing with my mind and tried to figure out what it actually is. To my surprise, it gave a playful nudge back, almost like a puppy that has finally found a playmate and is eager to make friends. It didn't take long before I felt safe enough to take down some of my mental barriers to explore what this strange, playful presence is. To my surprise, and this is where I encountered the first deviation from the original Harry Potter series, the presence is _magic. _ Dudley Dursley, is a wizard.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 3: Dudley Dursley, a wizard?

Magic, in my current life, is much different from that I encountered when I was a mutant. For one, I couldn't control my mind magic much. Well, at least I couldn't control the mind reading aspect of it. I could try to tune out the voices I hear, much like trying to ignore the chatters in a crowded train station, but they are always there in the background. I have the control to focus on any particular voices within a mile radius if I wanted to. But the most useful thing about my mind magic was the perfect recall or some would say, photographic memory I have. Of course, being able to protect my mind from other invasive mutants who have similar mind reading abilities in my previous life was also useful.

The magic I have now, not including mind magic, was more precise and yet the things I could do were so diversified, the sky's the limit. Since I didn't have a wand, for obvious reasons, I could only practice wandless magic. With nothing much to do as a baby, I had both the time and dedication to make sure I master as much wandless magic as I possibly can. Why the dedication you ask? May I remind you that my cousin is Harry Potter, and his number one enemy, Voldemort, is highly likely to target his family, namely, me? I plan to become the family that Harry Potter never had in the original series when he comes to live with us. I promised to myself that I will do everything I can to ensure that Harry will not have to go through the negligence, the starving and emotional abuse he had went through in the original Dursley household.

The first wandless spell I managed was the first year spell, _lumos. _Since my crib was not in Petunia's and Vernon's bedroom, there was less risk of being caught while practicing my magic during night time when everyone's asleep. The light spell was really fascinating. It gathers the light energy around and focused on my hand. I admired the light for a while, then panicked when I almost forgot how to turn it off. Fortunately I finally recalled the cancelling spell, _nox. _ The memories I had before I got my mind magic ability were not as clear, so it took me almost the whole night to figure that out, and just in time too, for I could hear Petunia in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and probably milk to feed me.

Having mastered my first spell was a really exciting day for me. Encouraged with the success, I attempted my second spell, which I thought would be useful if Petunia or Vernon ever lock Harry in the cupboard. The_ alohomora, _or the unlocking spell, was much harder to learn than lumos. Especially so when I didn't have a wand. However, I wasn't easily deterred and I'm guessing my mind magic helped a lot in my practice, especially when I had to focus to get the spell right. About a week after practicing, I mastered the unlocking spell. It was about this time I was able to crawl around, so the first thing I unlocked was the door of my bedroom. I was thrilled but Petunia was most puzzled the next day why the door was unlocked. It was lucky that she didn't even had the slightest suspicion it was opened by magic, or else I couldn't imagine what her reactions would be, being a magic hating, jealous muggle.

It was a good thing I had magic in this life too, as Petunia was determined to make me fat by feeding me a dozen times a day. Practicing magic used up the energy I got from the food I consumed, and I felt relief that I didn't have to become a chubby Dudley. Not just because I'm vain, but being overweight will limit my mobility, and ability to dodge spells or attacks. Like I said, I'm expecting to be a target of either Voldemort, his death eaters, or just those who are prejudiced against muggle-born wizards. I'm pretty sure that I will be going to Hogwarts with Harry, so I have to be prepared for anything. Paranoid? Maybe, but I'd rather be safe than sorry right?

There were a few other spells that became a priority to learn, before or during Harry's stay with us Dursleys. Any spell that could make an improvement in his life, such as _accio, _ for retrieving food in a sneaky way to feed Harry when he's deprived of it, _confundus_ when Harry conducts accidental magic and I need to keep the muggles confused, _scourgify _to help Harry keep clean, _quietus _to make things quiet, in case Harry cries and irritates Vernon or Petunia, _episkey _ to heal any wounds and many many more. I had a long list of spells to master, and about half a year's time to do so as Harry is about to left on our doorstep if everything follows the original time-line. In that long list, I only managed to wandlessly cast _lumos, nox, accio, scourgify and episkey_ when Harry arrived one quiet morning that was quickly penetrated by the shocked scream of Petunia.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 4: Cousin to Harry Potter

I barely caught a few hours of sleep after mastering my latest spell, episkey, when I was rudely awakened by Petunia's scream. Reading her mind, I became more alert as my cousin, Harry Potter was discovered on the doorstep. She took Harry in and quickly dumped Harry on the cold hard floor of the living room as if he was on fire. Pacing around and mumbling to herself, I could tell from Petunia's mind that she was in shock and had read the letter Dumbledore had left her. Lily, her sister, had been murdered, and her magical nephew, Harry Potter is now in her care. She was upset that she had been burdened by such a freak, and there was a few seconds when she spared a thought to her deceased sister, before thinking that it serves Lily right that she was killed. There wasn't any sadness for a sister she will never see again, nor sympathy for the orphaned Harry. All she could think of was how she could get rid of Harry, before resigning to her fate since Dumbledore had made an implied threat in the letter that whoever killed the Potters, would likely come after Petunia and her family. With Harry Potter living with her however, she will be protected. It was only that only reason that Harry Potter wasn't dumped somewhere else, though sometimes I wondered when I was reading the Harry Potter series, that perhaps the orphanage would be a kinder fate to Harry in his childhood.

Vernon soon made his way downstairs, most likely expecting his usual breakfast ready. To his surprise, what greeted him was a grimly looking wife and a strange baby in the living room. As Petunia gave an explanation for the new addition, rather, burden in the family, I could see in Vernon's mind of his reluctance and disgust in taking in a _freak_. With Vernon's weak character, it was no surprise he was easily persuaded by Petunia that Harry Potter is going to live in with his family. As it was a weekday, Vernon prepared to work while Petunia prepared the cupboard for Harry's stay. I was repulsed at their treatment of a baby, but there was nothing much I could do at that stage since I was also a baby myself.

Baby Harry was strangely quiet. He seldom cries, or if he did, he quickly learned that crying doesn't give him positive attention. Petunia gave Harry the minimal care she could, changing Harry's diapers only once a day and feeding him twice. I could tell from Harry's mind that he was often hungry, uncomfortable and confused. Most of the time he was wondering what happened to his parents, padfoot and moony. I wished I could speak to Harry, to comfort him, and it was the second night of his arrival when I sneaked out of my room and crawled to the cupboard. Wandlessly, I cast _alohomora _and as quiet as I could, made my way to meet my cousin for the first time.

Although I expected it, and had seen the inside of the cupboard through Petunia's mind, it was still a shock to see the horrible state it was in. The place was dusty with cobwebs and air was stale. It was an uncomfortable room for anyone to be in, much less a baby to live in for the next decade or so. I felt so much compassion for Harry that my tears starting coming uncontrollably. My sniffling caught Harry's attention and he stilled, afraid that it was Petunia coming to roughly handle him again. I projected my thoughts into his mind gently.

_Don't be afraid, I'm your cousin, Dudley, and I will not hurt you. _

Harry was confused and his mind clearly reflected this. Explaining things to a baby is hard, but when it is done through telepathy, it gets a little easier. I was able to gain the trust of Harry quickly as I showed him a few spells that his parents have done before, such as _lumos_, and also _scourgify_ to clean his dirty diapers and clothes. It was something familiar to him in this strange new environment he is now in, so he was comforted. Since I couldn't stay in the cupboard very long for fear of being caught, I reassured Harry that I would visit him again tomorrow night before I sneaked back to my room.

The next few months followed a similar pattern whereby I sneaked into Harry's cupboard whenever I can, and the other available times alone I continued to practice my spells. Petunia continued to try and stuff me with food, and since she is starting to feed me solid food now, I managed to keep some and feed them to Harry when I visit him at nights. I think if being a wizard doesn't work out for me, I would make a pretty good ninja with all the sneaking about I do. Vernon was kept busy at work as the drilling business seemed to be booming, and Petunia spent most of her time showing me off to the neighbors, gossiping or housework chores. Very little time was spent taking care of Harry.

My first spoken word, at least the one that Petunia and Vernon heard, was "who". It was the first time Petunia brought Harry out of the cupboard to reluctantly introduce my cousin to me. Petunia was so proud that she released Harry on the nearest surface, which happened to be the kitchen table, and promptly hugged me while exclaiming what a clever child I am. I was never comfortable with her hugs, so I tried to distract her by pointing to Harry and asking again – "who" that was. She launched into a long explanation about how Harry was my freak of a cousin, and she being the kind woman she is, took her in after his good-for-nothing parents died in a car crash. I think she was so excited I spoke my "first" word that she'd forgotten a normal child my age probably wouldn't understand what she's rambling about. Harry didn't understand most of what she said, but one word stood out as it was repeatedly used to describe him. That night, he asked me what's a "freak" and why Petunia keeps calling him that. I racked my brains for a child-friendly answer; unfortunately, lying when you are speaking directly into another person's mind is quite difficult so I just decided to tell him the truth. Of course I made sure to reassure him that he is not a freak, and that Petunia is just prejudiced. Trying to explain prejudiced to a one year and 8 months old child is not easily achieved, but I think I managed to get the rough idea across. It was about this time where Harry starting becoming more inquisitive and kept using his favorite word – "why". With the motivation to answer him to the best of my abilities, I sought out answers to his questions. Though I am able to read minds, I am not a genius, and it seemed that unlike my previous life as a mutant, in this life I can only read the surface thoughts of the minds I come across. My second birthday was arriving and I asked for books as presents, to increase my knowledge. Unfortunately the books I got were mostly picture books or books with very little words so that wasn't much help in answering Harry's more complex questions. However, Harry was much entertained by the books as I used them to teach him how to read and even simple writing. I was very much impressed with the speed at which Harry learn new words and happy at seeing his enthusiasm each time we read a new book together. Although I couldn't give anything new to him as presents, I started damaging some of my books and toys on purpose, to use that as an excuse to get rid of my toys and giving it to him. Harry was a very sweet child and never questioned why he got the damaged toys; he was just happy to receive any present.

During the first few years, Petunia and Vernon liked to pretend that there was only one child in the family. I witnessed first hand how Petunia would sometimes "forget" to feed Harry or to bathe him. She also ignored how Harry became potty trained, or how he learnt to speak and walk without her teaching him. In her mind, when she spared a thought about Harry, was that any abnormalities were due to Harry being a freak. I was more of guardian to Harry than his Aunt and Uncle were to him, having taught him all the necessary things for his growth from a baby to a toddler, to a child. Vernon, being the simple-minded man he is, simply thought that Petunia was doing a fantastic job raising his son and the boy.

Since Harry learnt how to talk, I have been using telepathy less and less. I knew that he was soon going to ask me complicated questions that I would not be able to tell him the entire truth about. It wasn't that I wanted to lie to Harry on purpose, but I was worried about Dumbledore, Snape and other wizards with mind reading skills reading Harry's mind when he gets older. I have to be very careful about what I reveal to him. If I could help it, nobody in this world would know about my mind magic, but I couldn't bear not comforting Harry via telepathy the first night I met him as a scared, confused baby.

When he was younger, he asked me about his parents and why he was placed with the Dursleys. I told him I will explain to him when he is older. He remembered my promise and persistently asked me every few months. I considered teaching him Occulmency to protect his mind so that I can answer him truthfully, but there was something stopping me from doing so; I had no clue how to teach someone how to protect his mind. When I get the chance to get my hands on books on how to protect one's mind, I can use that as a guide, but the mind is a fragile thing and I don't feel comfortable in messing with Harry's mind until I am certain I can teach him Occulmency correctly.

It was when Harry reached four years old that he became impatient enough to ask Petunia where his parents are. It was also the first time I saw Petunia losing her temper, big time. She shouted resentfully that his good-for-nothing drunk parents died in a car crash. After that outburst, she dragged Harry into the cupboard and locked him in. Without my interference, it would probably be the first time Harry would go hungry for days while Petunia cooled down. Fortunately for my cousin, I sneaked food and water to him every night, and comforted him that his parents are not good-for-nothing drunks. He asked me how I knew, and it was the first time I lied to him.

"I've got mind reading skills, remember? Petunia was lying about how your parents died. I saw in her mind a letter that explained why you were left with us." I reiterated what I remembered from the letter. That brought about more questions from Harry.

"Who's Dumbledore? Who is the dark wizard that killed my parents? Why?"

Again, I could only lie to Harry and answered him with shakes of my head indicating I don't know.

"I don't know, Harry, but it would be wise not to ask Petunia or Vernon anymore questions."

Harry finally agreed, but asked me a really awkward question. "Why do you call your parents by their names when we are alone?"

Now this question, though awkward, was something I could answer honestly. "I dislike them. Their treatment of you is disgusting and I'm not proud to call people like that my parents. However, since I'm under their care, I cannot openly oppose them, and so I have to address them as mum and dad to their face and in public."

Harry smiled gratefully and soon the subjects we spoke about turned to lighter ones.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 5: The Secret Little Housekeeper

Close to my fifth birthday, Petunia started giving chores to Harry. It started with simple things such as weeding the garden, to cleaning the house, and proceeded to cooking breakfast for the family. I tried to protest but to no avail. The only thing I could do was teach Harry spells that would help him with his chores, with the promise that he avoid doing the spells in the presence of anyone but me. Harry was a powerful wizard even at a young age, and mastered the spells I taught him at an astounding pace. I was really proud of him. I also assisted Harry with his chores whenever I can escape Petunia's notice. It was fun practicing spells while doing the housework as I tried to make it into a game for each chore we did together. For instance, when we did weeding in the garden, using the accio spell, I made it into a friendly little competition to see who gets the most weeds out first. For cleaning, I animated the mop to clean the floor and controlled the mop to dance to the music playing on the radio. Harry will then animate the cloth to clean the furniture as if he was a conductor in an orchestra.

He was curious about how I came to learn the spells, and I lied easily, saying that I read the minds of some wizards who passed by our residence and practiced the spells I picked from their minds. It was true I have come across some wizards and witches around our neighborhood, but they weren't thinking about those spells then. Their thoughts were of trying to catch a glimpse of the Boy-who-lived, savior of the wizarding world. The blood wards prevented them from coming to our house, but there was no stopping them in the neighborhood supermarket that we frequented for our groceries. Harry has noticed those strange people in weird clothing before, so he wasn't at all suspicious when I explained I learnt about magic from those wizards and witches.

Our neighbor and sometimes babysitter, Arabella Figg, was another wonderful source to support any explanation about how I knew stuff about the magical world. The first time I met her and her numerous cats, I saw in her mind that she wasn't as fascinated with Harry, or rather the Boy-who-lived, as the others. Perhaps it was because she was a squib who spent most of her years in the muggle world, or maybe her thoughts and concern were often on her beloved cats. Harry didn't like Mrs. Figg very much, as she was always pushing him to look at the photo albums of her cats. He told me that he would rather be at home with me when Petunia and Vernon is not around, and I make a better babysitter than Mrs. Figg too. I was touched and took the chance to hug him. I knew Petunia and Vernon would never hug Harry and I made sure I hugged him at least twice a day. Besides, since Harry now have a more normal food intake than he could have without my interference, he wasn't all skin and bones and is pretty nice to hug.

It is on my fifth birthday that Aunt Marge visited, and also the second time I saw her. The first was on my first birthday, before Harry came to live with us. Aunt Marge didn't have a good impression of Harry the first time she met him. To a shallow, self-centered person like Aunt Marge, appearances are everything. Harry, wearing my cast-offs, with his inherited messy hair and cheap glasses, didn't seemed like much to Aunt Marge. The way Petunia was putting down Harry every chance she got, and Vernon's obvious distaste for him also didn't helped. It's not to say she favored me, oh no, not at all. Her scathing remarks on how skinny I am, and how rude I was not offering her the best room in the house as a guest room (so-called best room in the house was my bedroom) wore on Petunia's nerves. However, not wanting to seem like a bad hostess to her husband's sister, she grin and bore it throughout the visit, which fortunately for all of us, wasn't that long. She left such a mess in the guestroom she stayed in that when Harry was ordered to clean up the room, I confounded Petunia and helped Harry out with the chore. It was Petunia's, Harry and my fervent wish that Aunt Marge will not visit again so soon.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 6: The Primary School Student

Although I had limited freedom in the house, what with Petunia always trying to occupy my attention, I got even less freedom when I entered primary school with Harry. Piers Polkiss, one of the neighbors' son who sometimes were invited by Petunia to play with me, attempted to bully Harry during recess but I quickly put a stop to that with a hex to trip him. After that incident, Harry and I avoided Piers as he met likeminded kids (aka bully-wannabes) and formed his own gang. As I controlled my diet, I wasn't the big bulky kid that the canon Dudley Dursley was and seemed to be an easier target for the gang. I soon persuaded them otherwise when "accidents" always happened to them when they chased after Harry and myself. However, frequent "accidents" would raise suspicions so sometimes when we were chased, we ran away and it was good exercise to keep us fit, looking at it from a positive angle.

Harry, perhaps with my influence and the unusual upbringing he had, was more matured than the other kids. He couldn't relate well with them, more so when he wanted to show them the spells and I made him promise not to. From the students' minds I couldn't sense anyone who were the same as us, who were wizards or witches. From a young age I emphasized on the importance on keeping our magic secret, as the muggles would not understand our magic, the classic examples being Petunia and Vernon.

The teachers were surprised by how advanced we were in our learning, being able to read and write well for our age. I had to dumb down my own achievements so that I wasn't touted as a genius and bring myself to limelight, as I have no wish to be a public figure and lose my privacy. I have also warned Harry to do the same, and he was rather successful at doing so. We were both praised for being fast learners and clever boys, much to Petunia's delight and distaste. She was happy that I was doing well at my studies, but not so for Harry. Fortunately Harry and I had a secret agreement for him to do slightly worse than me at tests, so that he will not be punished by Petunia for showing off or using his freakishness to get better results than me.

There was a transfer student in the middle of the term that captured Harry's attention. She was a cute looking redhead, with dimples when she smiled. Being a friendly kind, she approached Harry to be friends with him. I could read from her mind that although she's a normal muggle, she had a sixth sense and felt that Harry is a special boy she should be friends with. I didn't object to their friendship as I thought that the small crush that Harry was developing for the girl, Maggie, was kind of cute. However, trouble came when Harry broke his promise to me and demonstrated magic in front of muggles.

It was during recess, where I had a tummy ache and had to spend more time in the loo than normal. When I was done, I searched for Harry and Maggie in the school playground where I know they usually hang out at. A sudden screaming that sounded like Maggie had me running towards the narrow alley between two of the school's buildings near the playground. It became apparent to me when I read the minds of all those in the alley, namely Maggie and Harry, what happened to cause the screaming.

While I was in the loo, Harry and Maggie were in the playground when Harry was attracted by a hissing sound that he could understand from the alley between the buildings. Curious, both of them went to check out the hissing and saw a snake. Harry, as a parselmouth, was delighted that the snake was speaking English (which I later clarified that the snake doesn't speak English and it was him who could understand and speak to the snake in parselmouth). He hissed back to the snake, unaware of the growing horror of Maggie. As with most little girls, Maggie was scared of snakes and the weird hissing sounds that Harry was making. Being a proactive type of person, or perhaps you could say courageous; she picked up a sharp stone nearby and threw it at the snake, while trying to pull Harry away from it. Harry, someone who has always liked strange things others don't, such as spiders and snakes, was shocked at Maggie's actions. Having conversed with the snake, Harry was starting to consider it as a new friend. The snake was hurt by the stone and was bleeding. It was at this point of time that Harry forgot his promise not to perform magic in the presence of muggles, and used _episkey _to heal the wound of his new friend. Grateful to Harry, the snake slithered onto Harry's arm and made himself comfortable. The second mistake Harry made after demonstrating his magic was to hold approach Maggie while the snake was on him. To a normal little girl like Maggie, it was getting to be all too much for her and she screamed, stepping backwards and trying to get away from Harry.

I arrived at this point in time, but not in time to stop Maggie from uttering a detested word that would cause Harry to be mistrusting of muggles from then forth.

"Get away from me, you freak!"

All was silent after that sentence. Harry's eyes widened in hurt and disbelief. After ensuring that nobody else was around except for the three of us, well four if you counted the snake, I used the spell _oblivate_, something I had never cast on anyone before. Oh well, desperate times calls for desperate measures. I will not allow anyone to hurt Harry, and since Maggie is unaccepting of our magical nature, it would be kinder for her to forget whatever she saw Harry did to the snake today. It seemed that the spell was successful and Maggie forgot about what happened in the alley, but Harry never did and probably never will.


	3. Chapters 7 and 8

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 7: Growing up

From the incident with Maggie, and the snake that is now a roommate of Harry in his cupboard, Harry grew even more aloof from the other kids than before. The other kid he is close to, if I could be considered one, is I. Socially it doesn't help Harry as he doesn't have the normal interactions with kids his age, as he should. There wasn't much I could do to help, even though I could read minds, I am not a Seer and can't read what the others are thinking of doing in the future. I was also wary of Harry getting hurt again by another Maggie. The only good thing that came out of the whole mess was the snake, whom I have taken a liking. Since it would be impractical to keep calling the snake, "snake", we decided to give it a name after getting agreement from it to do so. After some research, we discovered that the snake is a "he" and is an adder, a venomous snake who promised Harry that he would not bite anyone without his permission. Finally we settled with the name "Aspen" for our new snake friend, as according to Harry, it sounded "cool".

After much practice, I found that I could converse with Aspen through Harry, when I use telepathy at the same time that the both of them are having a conversation. It was like a strange three-way conference thing with Harry being the telephone and immediate translator in his mind. Aspen and Harry were delighted that I could understand the snake language this way, so I wasn't excluded when they are talking, or rather, hissing to each other. It was fun seeing and learning new things from Aspen's perspective as a snake too. We were careful to keep our snake friend out of sight from Petunia and Vernon, and warned Aspen to keep out the way of the other humans.

Time flies, and soon Harry and I became eight years old. Things in the Dursleys household, as far as Petunia and Vernon were concerned, didn't deviate much from what happened in the books. They were still as neglectful towards Harry, and didn't pay much attention to him. I attempted many times to bring about a change in their view towards Harry but was unsuccessful. People, especially prejudiced ones, stubbornly cling to their views and are highly resistance to change. The only changes I was able to bring about was to get them to ignore the amount of time I spend with Harry and things that I gave to Harry freely without their interference. Not that they didn't try to stop me, but I took a page out of the canon Dudley and threw tantrums to get my way. Let me tell you the first time I did that, Harry got a shock but soon caught on to the way I was manipulating Petunia and Vernon by my staged tantrums. I also got everyone to call me "D" instead of the sickening name "Dudley". Petunia still slipped now and now by reverting to calling me… Dudders, which in my opinion is even worse than calling me Dudley.

Aunt Marge visited again for my birthday, and gave me a computerized robot. She chuckled nastily when she gave Harry a box of dog biscuits. We used the biscuits as practice objects for transfiguration, so it didn't exactly go to waste. Wandless transfiguration was much harder than spells, and it took both of us almost a year before we managed to successfully and wandlessly transfigure a match into a needle. From then on things got easier as our transfiguration skills improved. We held mock duels in which one of us would throw out spells while the other would transfigure and levitate objects to block the spell. Though tiring, it was also great fun and Harry enjoyed learning this way. I was confident that come the year 1991, both of us would be more than ready to take on Hogwarts and the dangers of entering, or in Harry's case, re-entering the magical world.

During the few years between the ages of eight and eleven, I tried to teach Harry as much as possible about magic and how he could protect himself. As both of us were advanced in our academics in the muggle classes, we took the spare time in classes, through telepathy, to create mock battles and how to win those battles. Needles to say I used this as a way to prepare Harry for the future battles he will face, as well as to develop his strategic mindset. A few times before he questioned about my motives in having mock duels, mock battles etc, and I had no choice but to twist the truth and explained that I saw in the passing witches' and wizards' minds that he is the Boy-who-lived, having defeated the dark wizard Voldemort, and it would be prudent to learn how to defend himself should the death eaters target him when we enter the magical world again. It was around this time that Harry suggested making our way to Diagon Alley, the place I've "read" from some of the magical minds before. Considering I have pretty much exhausted what I know about magic from the Harry Potter series, which I must say I can't remember all that much since it was a few life times ago before I harnessed my mind magical skill, it was a good idea to pursue. I was also keen to start Harry on learning Occulmency if I could find books on it.

We had to make plans on how to sneak into Diagon Alley without alerting Petunia and Vernon to our absence. I was also wondering how on earth we can afford anything in Diagon Alley, as I wasn't sure if we should go to Gringotts to withdraw money from Harry's trust vault. If withdrawing money from the vault doesn't alert Dumbledore to our presence in the magical world, I was all for it, but if it does, I'm not sure it would be a good idea since I still couldn't make up my mind if Dumbledore is a controlling, manipulative old coot, or a kindly headmaster who truly acts for "the greater good". Finally I decided that I should pose these questions to the goblins at the bank when we are at Diagon Alley, while concealing our identities of course. Using my allowance, I purchased some concealer, make up and temporary hair dye that would wash out easily after one use. On the wedding anniversary of Petunia and Vernon, I persuaded them to place us with Mrs. Figg while they enjoy a movie and nice long dinner by themselves. Once we reached Mrs. Figg's place, I confounded her into thinking that Petunia and Vernon took us for a family night out.

We quickly used the concealer for Harry's scar, dyed our hair a dirty blond and dressed ourselves in the Halloween costumes for wizards. Having practiced apparition a few months back when Harry first suggested going to Diagon Alley, we held hands and visualized the entrance of the Alley behind the pub, the Leaky Cauldron, that I have seen in the mind of a witch before. With a loud crack we successfully transported ourselves to there and made loud whoops in excitement. Taping the correct brick three times, we held our breaths in anticipation, as the archway, the portal to Diagon Alley appeared before us.

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 8: Gringotts, Part One

Diagon Alley was as wondrous as I imagined it to be. In my first life, I haven't watched the movie, so I could only imagined from the words in the book how it would be like. I laughed out loud when I heard Harry's first impression of the Alley.

"_Wow, I wish I had eight more eyes... There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments I've never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon..."_

Being evening, and in October after the term has started at Hogwarts, there wasn't much people around. I tugged on Harry's hands to urge him on, as he was still captivated by the surrounding sights. First stop before anywhere else, Gringotts, the wizarding bank. The imposing snow-white building towering over other shops, part way down Diagon Alley was hard to miss, and we had little difficulties making our way to the bank. A set of white stairs leads up to a set of burnished bronze doors. The doors are flanked by a creature Harry had never seen before that I know to be a goblin, in a uniform of scarlet and gold. This is the entrance to Gringotts, and it leads into a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Engraved on these silver doors are the words:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

"Interesting." I hummed my agreement to Harry's comment. We walked though the silver doors that were again, flanked by goblins, into a vast marble hall with, as far as we can see, nearly a hundred or more goblins sitting at counters. After some discussion and observation, we decided to approach the friendliest looking out of the bunch, away from the entrance and the other counters where some wizards and witches are queuing.

"Good evening. We would like to ask if a young wizard who has not reach adulthood, can access to his vault without alerting his guardian?"

The goblin seemed to be irritated and answered, "That depends, but I have no time to entertain the tiresome questions of wizarding children like yourselves."

It was fortunate that I had prepared some pounds to convert to wizarding money, in case we are unable to access to Harry's vault without alerting Dumbledore. Sliding part some pounds smoothly across the counter to the goblin, I tried again, as politely as I could.

"Please take this as a compensation of your time."

He, I am assuming the goblin is a male from how he sounds like, gave us a considering look. "Fine, it depends on whether your guardian chose to be alerted and gave these instructions to the bank or not."

"And is it possible to find out my guardian's choice?" Harry asked.

"Sure, for the right price, of course." The goblin grinned; showing a set of sharp teeth and making us swallow nervously.

Using telepathy, Harry and I had a quick discussion and decided that the information would be worth it, especially after I assured that Harry's parents would most likely have left him something, and he is eager to know more about his parents anyway he could. Handing over more money, we continued our line of questioning.

"We hope this would be enough for your kind assistance." I figured being courteous, even though we are paying for it, doesn't hurt.

Looking down at the money with a glint of satisfaction, the goblin finally agreed to answer our questions.

"Fine, what is your name and who is your guardian?"

I glanced around to ensure nobody was near enough to hear our conversation.

"Hypothetically, which we are not admitting that either of us actually is, hypothetically speaking, if I'm say, Harry Potter, would my guardian be alerted to the fact I have visited my vault and withdraw money from it?"

The goblin, which we later found that his name was Vargot, showed his surprise and he quickly lead us into one of the numerous room leading off from the hall.

"Follow me, and keep quiet until we reach the visitor's room."

Harry and I looked at each other, nodded and followed nervously. We were led to a set of off white door with a metallic sheen, and entered the plain but spacious room where there were only four wooden chairs and a square wooden table. Following Vargot's example, we made sat down on the chairs and awaited the goblin's explanation.

"This is a room where our customers conduct their private transactions, or need to give confidential instructions. I led you here because what you need to know should not be overheard by anyone who is not Harry Potter, or whom he had not approved of."

He gave us a pointed look, as if waiting for us to 'fess up our identities.

"Fine, before we go any further, I need you to prove your identities, for there is customer confidentiality and I cannot reveal sensitive information easily, even for a _hypothetical Harry Potter._"

Wow, sarcasm from a goblin, wonderful. Again, after a telepathic discussion, we agreed to prove our identities for we felt that Vargot was sincere in helping us.

"How do we prove our identities?"

Vargot took out a piece of parchment and a silver blade from a drawer in the table that I didn't noticed before. Placing them before us, he explained their purpose.

"Prick your hand and drop blood on the parchment, it will prove your identity, if you own a vault in our bank."

I nodded to Harry and indicated that he should do that proving, since obviously I wouldn't have a vault in the bank with my muggle parents, and also the fact I'm not Harry Potter.

Harry pricked his index finger on his left hand and made a drop of his blood fall on the parchment. The moment the blood touched the parchment, words started to appear.

_Vault 687, Harry Potter's vault, _

_Value: 1,300,488 galleons, 407 knuts and 10 sickles. _

_Contents of items, unlisted. _

Both of us were shocked at the amount of money left for Harry in his vault, and we were silent for quite a while.

Vargot cleared his throat to get our attention. "Very well, Harry Potter, as a customer, you are entitled to ask questions regarding your vault. What do you wish to know?"

"The first question we asked you, whether my guardian will be alerted when I visit or withdraw from my vault."

"I do not know who is your guardians, therefore I cannot answer that."

"My guardian should be Petunia Dursley."

I added, "Would it be possible to find out who else is Harry's guardian?"

"Of course, but that will cost you 10 galleons."

Looking at the amount in Harry's vault and knowing the answer is important, so we agreed easily.

"Fine, wait here while I check our records." Vargot hurried out of the room.

"I can't believe mum and dad left so much to me." I didn't know how to respond to that, so I kept quiet. Leaving Harry's to his thoughts about his parents, I contemplated our next steps. If Petunia and Vernon are Harry's only guardians, we wouldn't have any problems accessing Harry's vault or be worried about alerting anyone since it is highly unlikely they would know about the vault. However, if Harry has a magical guardian, and said guardian happens to be Dumbledore, then we have a problem.

The sound of the opening doors broke through our thoughts as Vargot came back with the much anticipated answer.

"Harry Potter, your only guardian is Petunia Dursley. However, I have found out that the key to your vault is in the hands of the wizard, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

"Why is Harry's key in his possession?"

"I do not know and I am unable to find out the reason from our records."

"Can I access my vault without the key?"

"For your type of vault, you will need a key to access to it."

"What do you mean my type of vault?"

"There are two types of vault in Gringotts. Most vaults, such as Harry Potter's use small golden keys. Higher security vaults may have various enchantments or other measures upon the doors and would need to be stroked by a certified Gringotts goblin, whereupon the door will melts away to allow access to the contents."

Vargot smiled viciously, before he continued.

"If anyone other than a certified Gringotts goblin touches the door, that person will be sucked into the vault, which is only checked for trapped thieves about once every 10 years."

We gulped nervously, taking a moment to compose ourselves and also another short discussion before asking.

"Can I make a new key?"

"Certainly, for 6 galleons as a fee."

We had no choice but to agree, since Harry needs to access to his vault, especially so now that I have little pounds left for conversion after most of it have been used to "bribe" the assistance of Vargot.

Fortunately the goblins were most efficient in their dealings and were able to get the new key ready for us in approximately half an hour. While waiting for the new key to be made, I decided to try my luck and check if there is any vault I am entitled to. I remembered reading some fanfictions where Harry Potter becomes heir and have claims to vaults besides what his parents left him. Using the same principles (if applicable), it could be possible that I am perhaps the heir to some obscure magical line. Who knows, anything could happen in the magical world, and it doesn't cost anything to prove my identity as a customer of the bank.

Vargot was certainly amused when I requested for the test. Harry and I read the words that appeared on the parchment where my newly spilled blood now rested upon.

_Vault 689, Dudley Dursley's vault, _

_Value: 100,000 galleons_

_Contents of items, unlisted. _

Hey, I did have a vault! Wondered who left me the money. Granted, it wasn't even a fraction of what Harry has, but the fact that I, a muggle-born wizard whom in the canon HP series isn't even suppose to be a wizard, has a vault is nothing short of amazing.

"Vargot, is there a way to find out who left me the money?"

"Yes, I can check our records of wills and find that out for you. However, the fee for this service will be 2 galleons."

"In that case, please also check if there is a will relating to Harry. Thank you."

Harry and I waited anxiously for Vargot to return, as both of us were equally curious for our answers.

"I have found the wills relating to both your vaults. Which one should I read first?"

"You go first Dudley." Harry offered before I could say anything. I nodded and Vargot proceeded with the reading.

"To my only nephew, whom I have never met before. Dear Dudley my dear nephew, although I did not have the pleasure of seeing your face or holding you in my arms ever before, I care about you and your future. During this time, hiding in the manor with your cousin, Harry and my husband James from a most evil wizard after our lives, I had ample time to remember and to consider some things. One of these is you, Dudley. When I received news of your birth, I had a fleeting thought that you could be magical, and a wonderful cousin to Harry. However, it was a passing thought as I knew that your mother, Petunia, would nit be keen on the idea I had. We lost touch with each other years ago, yet she is never far from my mind. Now, looking at a photo of your mother and I when we were kids, I imagine that the possibility of you being magical isn't an absolute zero. After all, I was a muggle-born witch having non-magical parents myself. I am worried if you share the same magical beginnings as I do, that you will face a harder road than I did. It would please me more than anything else if I could guide you with your introduction into the magical world, however, in these dark times, I fear that I may not have the opportunity to do so. For this very reason, I have instructed the goblins to set aside a humble amount of money for your schooling, if you are a young wizard and need the funds to attend Hogwarts and to purchase schooling supplies. In the event you are non-magical, I have instructed the bank to convert the amount into pounds and you will inherit the amount when you reach 18 years old. I believe that is the age where you finished your basic studies and will be matured enough to decide your own future. I wish the very best in your life, be it a magical one or not. Love, your aunt, Lily Potter."

I was rarely touched by anything in my life, but the kind thoughts of Lily really touched my heart.

"Harry, your mum is a really kind and wonderful woman."

Vargot, not wanting to waste our time, nor his, interrupted our heart-warming thoughts.

"That ends the reading of Lily Potter's will to Dudley Dursley. May I continue with Harry Potter's?"

"Yes, please go ahead."

A/N: I decided to split the Gringotts part into two chapters since I'm halfway done and getting sleepy. Here's the first part, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The second part of the Gringotts visit should be uploaded in about a day's time. If you have any suggestions as to what you want Harry to inherit from his parents, any special items that should be added, please drop me a line when you review. Cheers.


	4. Chapters 8 and 9

A/N: Many thanks to LizziePixie-Aiko for your review and kind comments. Glad you are enjoying my story!

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 8: Gringotts, Part Two

"Dear darling Harry or as your father likes to call you, Prongslet,

It is with a heavy heart that we are making this will, when you are barely a year old. If the world is a peaceful one, we hope that you will not get to read this letter until we have spent at least a century with you. Alas, our family is one of the targets high on the list of the dark wizard Voldemort, and we must be prepared for the worst in these dangerous times. You are the pride and joy of both James and myself, and we love you very much. Even at a few months old you were already demonstrating accidental magic, waving your favorite teddy bear back into your crib when we took it out for a wash. You are such an inquisitive and active child, driving both of us crazy by crawling all the over the place exploring, or hiding in little niches to give us heart attacks when we thought we've lost you. Your Godfather, Sirius Black or better known as Padfoot, enjoys your antics as much as we do. If anything happens to us, your Godfather will be your guardian and take care of you. Remember, we love you and will always be proud of you whatever you do.

All our love, Lily and James Potter."

Vargot could see that Harry and I were overwhelmed by emotions from the letter he just read. He gave us a few moments to compose ourselves before he continued.

"To Harry Potter, our beloved son, upon our death we will to you:

1,300,488 galleons, 407 knuts and 10 sickles.

The Potter's family Manor at Godric's Hollow

the Potter's family heirloom, coat of invisibility (in the safekeeping of Albus Dumbledore),

the Potter's family grimoire of spells,

the Potter's family ring – for the Lord of house of Potter, and

the Potter's heir ring"

"That concludes the will of James and Lily Potter for their son, Harry Potter."

Many thoughts ran through my mind, but the main thing that both Harry and I were interested in was his Godfather, Sirius Black.

"If Harry is supposed to be in the care of Sirius Black, his Godfather, how did he end up with Petunia Dursley?"

Vargot's thoughts and answer came out at the same time, "We care not for the affairs of wizards, and only look after your gold and valuables deposited in Gringotts."

Huh, no help there then, can't say I'm much surprised what with the nature of goblins. From Vargot's mind, I knew that since our question about Sirius Black was not related to Harry's vault, he is not concerned nor will he be as helpful. We decided to do some research on our own, but before that, off to our vaults.

"Another question, Vargot, what are galleons, sickles and knuts?"

"Galleons, sickles and knuts are forms of the wizarding currency. The gold coins are galleons, and is equal to 17 sickles or 493 knuts. Sickles are made out of silver. Once sickle is equal to 29 knuts."

After thanking Vargot and expressing our wishes to access our vaults, we were quickly led to Harry's vault first, by riding the magic carts. Vargot left us and returned to his counter, while another goblin, that we got to know as Griphook and was in charge of operating the carts, took over. Both of us were speed addicts and enjoyed the ride along the tracks deep down into the underground where the vaults were located. It uplifted Harry's mood a little, as he was quite down after the reading of his parents' will. With his shiny new key, Harry opened the door to his vault and we both took sharp breaths of surprise at the piles of gold. There were a few small piles of bronze and silver, knuts and sickles I suppose, in addition to the gold. At one corner of the vault, there was a silver chest that we approached to see what was inside. Engraved on the surface of the chest was the Ancient Arms of the Potters'. It was a majestic griffin that stood proudly on top of a silver armor, armed with two metallic swords that were crossing each other. All these were surrounded by beautiful vines and unknown flowers. Inside, we could see a thick, dusty tome that upon further examination reveals itself to be the Potter's family grimoire of spells. There were also two rings, the Potter's family ring for the Lord of the house of Potter, and the Potter's heir ring. All these bear the Potter's coat of arms. Harry decided to keep the items back in the chest where they would be the safest. I agreed, as there's a possibility that if we took them back home, Petunia and Vernon could accidentally come across them and take them away. He lingered over the tome and the rings, before reluctantly placing them back into the chest and shutting it. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

"I….I miss them so much… don't even remember clearly how they looked like, wish I have a photo of them or something…"

I put my arms around Harry, trying to comfort him. "Perhaps we could get a photo of them from old newspapers, or the school's yearbook? It shouldn't be that hard seeing they are the parents of someone famous like you right?"

My teasing had the expected effect when Harry glared at me and retorted, "I don't want to be famous! But I guess we can try and get photos of my parents by your suggestions." Whew, an irritated Harry is better than a sad one, so I guess my mission is accomplished.

"And if we find a way to get to your house at Godric's Hollow, maybe there will be photos and other personal effects of Aunt Lily and Uncle James there too!"

Harry cheered at the thought of that, and we hurried with transporting as much galleons as we could into the cloth bag that Vargo provided. We had no idea how much money to take but since the bag wasn't that big, we just took as much as we could. I suddenly recalled there's something that will be dead useful, the mokeskin pouch. Harry seemed to notice that I was distracted.

"What are you thinking about, D?"

"I'm remembering something that would be useful for storing the gold, besides this standard one that Vargot gave to us." I paused, a small lie passing my lips.

"I read in a wizard's mind just now in the bank about the mokeskin pouch. It seems to be a kind of small bag that is used for storing items, which no one but the owner can get out. It appears small on the outside, but an enchantment allows it to have much greater carrying capacity than any muggle pouch of comparable size."

"Oh that sounds great! You think the goblins would have those pouches for sale here?"

"No harm asking I guess."

"Hey Griphook, does Gringotts sell any mokeskin pouches?"

The grumpy goblin sneered and gave us a condescending look. "Do we look like we are in the business of selling wizarding pouches? Just hurry up with your business in the vault and stop wasting my time."

Harry and I scampered back into his vault and finished up with filling up the bag. Guess we have to check out the shops in Diagon Alley for the mokeskin pouch. Griphook took us to a few vaults down to our next stop – my vault. Though the piles of galleons, knuts and sickles were significantly smaller than Harry's, I was grateful to even have a vault, so I happily filled out my bag.

The ride back up to Gringotts wasn't as much fun as the one on our way down, but we were glad to be leaving the intimidating goblins with the cold stone walls and onwards to the other interesting shops in Diagon Alley.

"So where should we go to, next?"

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 9: A Magical Shopping Experience

My stomach growled and I smiled sheepishly.

"How about some food first?"

"Good idea! I want to check out the cafes I saw that had brightly colored umbrellas with their tables outside. Let's go!" Harry tugged my arm excitedly, heading towards one of the cafes he described. It was similar to a muggle café, but with some distinct differences. The witch manning the counter, and behind her, we could see the dishes that were floating on the sink, washed by an animated sponge, drinks that flowed out from colorful taps into glasses for the customers, scrumptious looking food on pretty china plates floating out of the kitchen to the counter. It was amazing!

"Hi there dearies, what would you like to order?"

"What do you recommend?" I figured the friendly witch would suggest something nice, since I had no idea what to order and neither does Harry.

"How about our special for today, a shepherd's pie with a side of mashed potatoes, followed by cherry syrup and soda with ice?"

"Sounds great, thanks!" Harry answered for both of us, knowing that shepherd's pie and mashed potatoes are some of my favorite foods.

"Your orders will be ready soon. That will be 22 knuts, thank you." She smiled and waved us on cheerfully.

We sat on one of the tables outside, enjoying the cool evening breeze and sunset. The food and drinks came after a short while and we made quick work of both. While eating, we discussed what are the shops we should visit in the few hours we have left, keeping in mind that Petunia and Dursley will be home that night to collect us from Mrs. Figg.

"I think our priority should first be getting a bag or trunk to put in the stuff we will buy. Then on to the bookstore I guess?"

Harry agreed and added. "If there's time, I want to get some of the clothes that the other wizards are wearing. The Halloween costumes we have on look kind of weird compared to what the others are wearing, and I don't want to raise suspicions. I saw some of them giving us funny looks."

"Yes you are right, I think being children shopping by ourselves also adds on to the whole suspicious thing. I wonder if we can get something, a magical object or spell or potion that will make us look older? That would help in our next shopping excursion. However, we won't know until we get some books from the bookstore and do research on the wizarding world."

"So first to buy a trunk or bag, then on to the bookshop and clothing shops."

I was already reading the minds nearby, trying to see if I could get any useful knowledge. Bingo!

"Hey Harry, let's follow that wizard in purple robes and navy blue point hat. I read that he is going to a shop to buy a new trunk." I whispered to Harry and pointed to the wizard discretely. We followed our target at a safe distance away, and he soon entered a dusty looking store with the signboard above - "Baggin's Trunks and Bags for your every need".

The inside of the shop was not as dusty, fortunately. We looked over the stocks on display and were approached by an old wizard in distinguished black robes.

"Where are your parents, young ones?"

I was prepared, having anticipated that at some point in time we would be questioned.

"Sir, our parents are at the banks conducting some business, and send us on an errand to prove that we are big boys already." I puffed out my chest proudly and pretended to be all grown-up. My acting proved to be successful in reflecting any suspicion, as the wizards smiled at us, seemingly amused.

"And what errand were you sent to run? Perhaps I can be of some help?"

Harry chipped in. "We are getting presents for our twin brothers. They are going away on a journey and would need a decent trunk or bag for their travels."

"That's really thoughtful of you boys. I have just the thing in mind. Here, follow me."

He led us to the middle of the shop and showed us two similar looking trunks that are made of nice rustic brown leather with silver locks and screws.

"This is the ideal trunk for travellers. It has five compartments with various useful enchantments and security features. The first compartment on the right is the smallest but easily accessible for storing items you use often, such as your official travel documents, some motion-sickness potions perhaps, and other knick-knacks. It can also store up to 20 books depending on the size of them. The second compartment is used for storing your food and drinks, as it has an enchantment on it to preserve their freshness for up to a decade. It also arranges the food or drinks you store in it according, so there is no fear of spillage or losing anything in there. It can store up to 100 litres or kilograms of items. When you need to retrieve anything, just put your hand in and request for the item you want verbally. The third compartment is a small room. When you touch the button here and say the word 'stairs', there will be a set of stairs leading down to the room that is furnished with a queen-sized bed, a wardrobe, a study table and a pair of chairs. You can stay in that room for a maximum of one year, upon which you will need to exit the room and trunk for the enchantments to be refreshed. If you forget to do that, you will suffocate from lack of air, so please remember this.

Although the first compartment allows you to store up to 20 books, if you need more space you can use this fourth compartment, which also serves as a mini library to store more books. This compartment is equipped with 10 large bookshelves with the storage capacity of up to 1,000 books. This is especially useful if your brothers are going on a long journey for knowledge, as the mini library has an index that will help you locate whichever book you need easily and quickly. Just press your finger on the index and call out the name of the book you want. The index will then send out a red light leading you to the book.

The fifth and last compartment, is used for storing your clothes, shoes, hats, gloves, scarves etc. and is linked to the wardrobe in the third compartment. You can also store your tent in here. Similar to the second compartment where you can keep your consumables, this compartment will arrange the items you put in accordingly, and you can retrieve them by verbally requesting for it. Just be sure to be as clear in your request as possible, I had a customer who had many black robes, and was nearly swamped to death when he call out for his black robes as it all came flowing out of the trunk onto him.

For the security features, you will need to set a password by pressing your finger here and it will prick your finger for a drop of blood. This will identify you as the owner and you can only set the password one time, so be careful not to forget it. Nobody else can access to your trunk even if they have your password, as the blood will be part of the ward that secures your trunk and will only recognize you as the owner. As you can see, once you open the trunk, each compartment has it's own cover for further security. You can set an additional password on each cover, just stick your finger in this hole, and twist it around as you set the password. Again, it is a one-time thing, so do not forget your passwords."

Harry and I were extremely impressed with the functions of the trunk. Our concern is that it will cost a lot.

"Thank you for the explanation. They sound amazing…but how much are the trunks, sir?"

"15 galleons each."

We had a quick discussion and decided that though expensive, it will be really useful.

"All right, we will take both of them."

"Wonderful, thank you for your purchases. Please come back anytime."

"Oh, do you sell mokeskin pouches?"

"Of course, we have but the finest mokeskin pouches in Diagon Alley." He led us to a display shelf that had dozens of pouches in various colors. He took out from the shelf 5 of the pouches in a pretty sky blue, a dirty rust red, a disgusting looking mustard yellow, a dark midnight black and a nice golden brown.

"These are the best mokeskin pouches I have in stock. They are priced at 4 galleons each. Which one interests you?"

After much consideration, Harry chose the midnight black pouch, and persuaded me to get the one in sky blue. I blushed a little when I read Harry's mind and realized that he recommended that color as he thought that shade of blue was similar to that of my eyes. I must admit I've got it lucky that I didn't inherit the genes of Petunia and Vernon, who had pale grey and gloomy blue eyes respectively.

After purchasing out trunks and mokeskin pouches we headed for the second hand robes shop that happened to be next to Baggins' Trunks and Bags. It was a small cluttered shop without a proper signboard, but we didn't mind. We had already spent quite a fair bit our new trunks and pouches, so getting second hand robes was a good idea Harry and I both shared.

There was a sleepy looking witch leaning against the counter with the cash register at the far corner of the shop. She glanced at us when we entered the shop but didn't offer us any assistance. We shuffled slowly through the racks of clothes, careful not to knock anything over in the cluttered shop. Harry selected 2 robes, one in black and the other dark brown. I favored lighter colors so I chose one in cream color, and reluctantly got one in black as well, since the dark color is a more common color that would help the wearer to blend better into the crowd.

Checking my watch, I warned Harry that we should hurry to the bookshop and ready to leave Diagon Alley in about an hour's time. Flourish and Blotts, the bookshop, was down the street we were on, so we made our way easily there without getting lost. I love to read, and the large wizarding bookshop filled with shelves stacked to the ceiling was like a dream come true for me. We checked out the books and found many interesting ones to buy. It was struggle getting the stack over to the cash register but we made it. Fortunately the store's manager didn't ask why we were alone or the reason for purchasing so many books. In fact, he was quite helpful and asked if we needed a catalogue whereby we can buy books from the shop via owl. We took one of the catalogues together with our purchases. Although knackered with the shopping trip and many galleons poorer, Diagon Alley saw two happy and excited boys leaving that night back home.


	5. Chapter 10

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 10: Preparing for Hogwarts

List of books we purchased:

-The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)

- A History of Magic

- Magical Theory (All you will ever need to know about what makes spells work)

- Defensive Magical Theory

- A Beginner's guide to Transfiguration

- One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

- Magical Drafts and Potions

- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

- The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

- The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts

- Confronting the Faceless

- Magical Drafts and Potions

- Ancient Runes Made Easy

- Magical Law

- Dueling for Beginners

- Guide to Curse breaking for Beginners

- Quidditch Through the Ages

- Basic Principles of Warding

- Modern Magical History

- The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts

- Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century

Harry was shocked at what was written about himself in - Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. Although Dumbledore's letter to Petunia, which I revealed to Harry when he was younger, mentioned about Harry's reason for being orphaned, Harry had no idea that he, as a mere baby, defeated Voldemort the dark lord and became The-Boy-Who-Lived. When he cried out that he was the reason his parents died I had to reassure him it was the nature of parents to protect their child and the fault does not lie on him, but their murderer Voldemort. He was not entirely convinced and after a while I dropped the topic, knowing how stubborn my little cousin could be when he wanted to.

After this revelation, Harry was more determined than ever to learn all he can about magic. Between the both of us, we made quick work of the books we bought in about a year's time, and although we didn't manage to understand everything we read or get to practice all the spells, it was a good learning process for us. We understood more about the foundation of magic, the magical world and some important things that had slipped my mind entirely. One of the most important we learnt from the books, and also contributed to us getting our wands early, was about the Trace.

The Trace is a Charm put on wizards and witches who are under seventeen years of age. When any magical activity is performed in the vicinity of the underage individual, the Improper Use of Magic Office within the Ministry of Magic is alerted to the spell that was used and to the location of the caster and the time. The charm allows the Ministry to track underage magic, which is banned under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. The Trace automatically breaks upon a wizard or witch's seventeenth birthday. However I remember from the Harry Potter series I've read in my first life that Hermione Granger admitted to successfully trying out a few spells prior to her First year at Hogwarts, but not receiving any notification that this was banned. All this led me to believe that the Trace is actually put in place after students begin formal learning at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. To be on the safe side though, we got our wands not from Ollivanders Wand shop, but second-hand ones from a junk shop in Diagon Alley. I wasn't confident enough to venture into the more dodgy Knockturn Alley at this point of time, and wouldn't risk Harry's safety in doing so no matter how curious I am to explore the dark shopping district.

We had a little more time on our second trip, as I used a handy spell to make Petunia and Vernon think that I was spending a whole day out with friends, and Harry had to stay over on a weekend at school for remedial classes. Since we were not confident enough to use wandless magic to alter our looks, using muggle contraptions to disguise ourselves once more, we managed to explore more shops in Diagon Alley that we were able to due to time constraints on our first visit. We managed to procure rather suitable second-wands at the junk shop. I was honesty surprised at the amount of wands and other junk that the shop has in stock. My wand was 11 inches in length, made of a swishy willow with a core of dragon's heartstring. The type of wood in my wand was particularly interesting, as I recalled reading from somewhere that the willow tree symbolizes psychic abilities, love, deep emotions, intuition, and dreaming. It is really suitable for me, since I have psychic, or being rather skilled in mind magic, and have developed a deep love for Harry, my only family in this world. I refuse to accept having heartless people like Petunia and Vernon as my family, even though it is through their physical bodies that mine came into existence. Ungrateful, I know. I will still do my proper filial duties towards them such as providing for them as they did to me, when they are unable to take care of themselves. However, I cannot bring myself to love them as my family.

Harry's wand was surprising, considering that I knew the wand he got, or will get at Ollivander's is a holly with core of phoenix feather. The wand he chose, or the wand chose him, was 12 inches, pliable Mahogany with a core of dragon's heartstring as well. It was similar to the wand that Uncle James had, and I remembered from the Harry Potter series that his wand was good for transfiguration. That would explain Harry being stronger at transfiguration than at charms. I suppose it will be an advantage when Harry decides to learn how to be an animagus. I had mused if the dragon's heartstring in both our wands came from the same dragon. My question was answered the first time we used our wands to compete in combat. Nothing happened, and I was glad for it would certainly make our practice dueling sessions most difficult.

Done with getting our wands that were our main priority as wandless magic was harder to master and take more effort to cast, we made a second visit to Florish and Blotts to procure more books that would aid in our preparation for Hogwarts. Titles of the books we bought included 'The Standard Book of Spells' Grade 2 to Grade 7, 'Advanced Potion Making', 'Advanced Principles of Warding', 'Your Inner Animal: A Guide to the Animagus Transformation and Animagi'.

With our interest, particularly Harry's in potion making, we made our first visit to the Apothecary and cauldron shop to get supplies. The Apothecary was a fascinating shop crammed with all sorts of interesting things. Barrels of slimy stuff lined up on the floor and jars of all sorts of powders, herbs, placed on shelves along the walls. Bundles of feathers, fangs, and claws hung from the ceiling. Harry was most captivated by the exotic and unusual potion making materials in the shop. I, on the other hand, wasn't much impressed, as I felt that some of the parts of some animals of sorts were really slimy, creepy or plain yucky. The whole shop also smelt like a combination of eggs gone bad and rotten cabbages. As we left the shop, Harry eagerly rambled out the potions he could make with all the stuff we just bought and a few recipes he wanted to try out from the potions books he read. He was keen to try out particularly two recipes, the 'Herbicide Potion' and 'Sleeping Draught'. Since Petunia was so proud the garden _we_ has painstakingly taken care of, it would be a great prank to use the herbicide potion to kill or damage her beloved plants. The sleeping draught could also be useful when we wanted some uninterrupted time to practice our magic, as the potion causes the drinker to fall almost instantaneously into a deep but temporary sleep. I recalled there's a potion that would be useful to restore Harry's sight as well, so he wouldn't need to wear those awful and hindering glasses. We couldn't wait to go home and get started with the potion making. With our practice and knowledge in potion making, Snape wouldn't know what hit him when we attend Hogwarts!

The rumbling of stomachs reminded us to take a short break for food and we re-visited the café we had on our first visit at Diagon Alley. We decided to get a treat at the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour after the nice lunch, sharing a banana split sundae with chocolate syrup and rainbow sprinkles. The sounds from the nearby pet shop attracted our attention and we visit the Magical Menagerie. The proprietor of the magical pet shop was a witch who wears heavy black spectacles, and was helpful in offering advice to what pets she has and the nature of them, trying to match us to a suitable pet. Unfortunately we had to decline her kind offer as it wasn't practical to get a pet at this stage while we are still residing in the Dursley's house. Reluctantly, we left the shop and took a quick glance at the nearby shop, the Eeylops Owl Emporium, before deciding the temptation to get an owl was too great if we went in. I was curious if Hedwig, the white snowy owl will be in the owl emporium, but I figured if it's meant to be, Hedwig will be reunited with Harry when Hagrid buy her as a present for Harry's eleventh birthday.

We proceeded to the stationery store, as I was running low on stationery from our intensive studying and notes taking of magic and everything related. The shop sells ink, quills, and parchment that were rather foreign to us as we were used to pens, pencils, paper and notebooks. However, since I knew we would need to use ink, quills and parchment at Hogwarts, I bought a bunch of the stationery. It would be hard to write using quills and ink but that's no excuse for not being prepared by practicing. Next door to the stationery store was the Quality Quidditch Supplies, which is a shop that Harry eagerly went into, having read about this form of magical sports from 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. He was running his hands over the brooms, particulary the Comet 260 and Nimbus 1700. I had to drag him out of the shop, but not before I sneakily (while he was preoccupied with the brooms) bought a golden snitch for his tenth birthday that was coming in about 2 months' time.

Before we left Diagon Alley, we made a trip to Gringotts to replenish our mokeskin bag will gold, that was feeling a little empty from the shopping we did. Harry then suggested visiting the Daily Prophet to check out their archives of old newspapers, in order to research on Sirius Black, his Godfather. We discovered from the old newspaper articles Sirius Black confronted Peter Pettigrew, a friend of James Potter, on a city street. According to eyewitnesses, Pettigrew shouted out that it was Sirius who betrayed the Potters, and then there was a loud explosion, that killed twelve Muggles in the process. Pettigrew couldn't be found and was believed to be killed by Sirius, as there was only a severed finger left behind. Fudge claimed that he saw Black laughing maniacally at the scene of the crime, suggesting that Sirius thought Peter died and was happy about it. Sirius was then arrested by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and was sentenced to Azkaban for the murder of Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles, for giving the information about the Potters' whereabouts that lead to their deaths and for being in the service of Lord Voldemort.

After that piece of history, Harry was in no mood to continue with shopping or anything. I could feel his anger growing as his magical aura sparkled and hissed, lashing out. His mind was in turmoil, but his thoughts were mainly of Sirius Black's betrayal. Trust for Harry doesn't come easy especially after the Maggie incident, and he hates betrayal the most of all. I lead Harry to a secluded corner in the Alley and hugged him tightly, not knowing what to say, as I couldn't reveal that Sirius Black was innocent. How could I be sure, what if things in this world are different from what I knew from my first life? After all, Dudley Dursley wasn't supposed to be a wizard, so I can't assume that I'm the only exception to the rule. I could only give comfort to Harry and help him in everyway I can. He trembled silently in my arms for a long time, but didn't give in to his tears. We left the magical shopping district in solemn silence after he composed himself enough to show an emotionless façade to the world. It was with heavy hearts that we returned to Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey.

If I thought Harry was determined in his magical learning before, it was nothing compared to how intensively he threw himself in studies after the revelation about Sirius Black. I knew he was now not only concerned about Voldemort, his death eaters or how the wizarding world's attitude and actions would be towards The-Boy-Who-Lived re-entrance into the magical world in about a year's time, but also about Sirius Black. His Godfather's betrayal cut deep into Harry's heart, and he thought that if his parent's best friend could betray them so easily, what hope does he have in the other wizards and witches? This mentality was vastly different from the one Harry had when he first learnt of Hogwarts. He was so enthusiastic about seeing the magical castle, learning magic from 'proper teachers' (I sniffed at that), and making friends with other wizards and witches. Now, I caught a glimpse of the focused warrior that Harry would eventually become, and it both saddened and made me proud. I was proud that he was growing up well equipped with the knowledge and attitude to face any upcoming battles and obstacles, but I was sad that he had to lose his childhood naivety so quickly. Guess it's impossible to have the best of both worlds, and I could empathize a little with Albus Dumbledore not wanting Harry to know about the prophecy, and be burdened at a young age. However, my main priority is also making sure Harry survives and has ample opportunities to build his own happiness. It is with these thoughts that we made full use of the year before attending Hogwarts to learn as much as we can and be prepared.

_Next Chapter in the Life as Dudley Dursley: Acceptance Letters _


	6. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you for your support, dear LizziePixie-Aiko, here's my answer to your request of updating soon, hope you like it. Cheers :D

Life as Dudley Dursley – Chapter 11: Acceptance Letters 

June 23rd, a date I don't usually care much about, was much anticipated this year, as it will be on that day I become eleven years old, and hopefully be getting the acceptance letter from Hogwarts. I had no idea if Harry's letter would come with mine, but it would be good if it did. Harry was already biting his nails nervously, a nasty habit I tried to break him out of but failed. The letters would mark the beginning of a new journey into the next stage in our lives, though dangerous, it was exciting for us both.

The morning of my birthday I was awakened by the sickening babying tones of Petunia, who announced it was an important day that I should wake up for bright and early. I made my way downstairs sleepily, and saw a pile of presents on the living room's coffee table. Harry had already given me my birthday present last night, a silver bracelet that was enchanted with protection spells and wards. I knew he made a lot of effort on the bracelet and was touched. It was similar to the present I was making finishing touches on for his birthday, a silver necklace with protection charms, with one of the enchantments being protection against mind invasions. Although I couldn't find any books on occulmency, I encouraged Harry to practice meditation every night before he sleep, and first thing in the morning when he wakes up, so that would help his mind to focus better and perhaps set a good foundation for learning occulemency later when we get to know how. The protection on the necklace would hold against weak legilimency attempts, and also heat up as a warning signal when the wearer's mind is being invaded. Other protective functions were mainly mind defensive measures, such as repelling the _oblivate_ spell and a loud alarm sounding with showers of red sparks befalling anyone attempting to cast the _imperio_ on Harry. One of my favorite functions of the necklace was detecting malicious or harmful thoughts towards the wearer. The charm will shine a stripe of blue light towards the originator of such thoughts. This would help Harry to differentiate between friends and foes, and also alert him to be on guard towards those who had the blue light shone on them. I was checking to see what runes I could put on the necklace to prevent theft and damage, and then it will be ready as Harry's birthday gift. I must say I was rather proud of the knowledge and skills that we have mastered within the years both on our own and from the books we bought. I am quite confident we will be ready for our first year at Hogwarts.

The sound of the mail being sent through the mail slot at our door had Harry running like he had never before to fetch the letters. We had planned earlier that Harry should get the mail and if there are any letters for us that looks like our acceptance letters from Hogwarts, he should hide them from Petunia and Vernon. We will read the letters later that day when the adults are in bed to avoid any suspicions. My initial plans were to plant false memories in their minds to make them think that I am going to a privileged boarding school, while using the funds that Aunt Lily kindly left me for my school fees and school supplies. However those plans were cast out for there were numerous loopholes in them. We finally decided to let Petunia and Vernon know about our plans to attend Hogwarts, after _both _of us get our acceptance letters and secured a place in the school. Through the years we had hid our magical supplies and activites with spells aimed to confound and repel Petunia and Vernon's attention. We did it so well that Petunia and Vernon thought that Harry was becoming a normal kind, not the _freak of a boy_ that he was when he first arrived in the Dursley's household. Petunia had even moved Harry up to the smallest bedroom, after some persuasion (coughcomplusioncough) on my part. A cupboard was no place for any child to be in, especially for Harry, as he was growing taller from the proper amount of food he consumed from my sneaking around. In fact, Harry was taller than me by about an inch and half, a good, healthy height for his age. On the hand, I was strangely small sized, both in height and weight. At age eleven, my appearance is oddly slender and feminine; silky chocolate brown hair that frame a heart shape face and large sky blue eyes with thick, long lashes and pouty lips. I have no idea where my looks were inherited from, for they certainly didn't come from either Petunia or Vernon. Petunia's attempts to get me bigger with lots of fattening food were futile, for I either hid the additional portions for Harry, or put the extra we didn't need into the compartment of the trunk that preserves food and drinks. However, Vernon's methods of getting to be more like a man was rather beneficial, for he put me into boxing classes that gradually proceeded to other fitness classes that caught my interest, such as gymnastics to improve flexibility as well Aikido, a form of Japanese martial arts. I taught whatever I learnt from those classes to Harry, though my cousin excelled in boxing, while I did better in gymnastics due to my built. We were almost on par when it comes to sparring using Aikido moves. To be fair, Petunia and Vernon in their own ways have been quite decent parents to me as they usually gave in to whatever requests I have, and provide me with the best their budgets allow them to buy. Of course, that is while they thought I am a normal kid.

I dreaded to see their reactions when they realize that both their supposedly _normal_ son and nephew are going to be students of a _freaky magical school. _My worries were put on hold when Harry returned with the other mundane letters for my parents with a sad smile. His thoughts came through clearly; there was a letter for me but none for him. I wasn't all that surprised, since I recalled that the acceptance letters usually comes on the eleventh birthday. I reassured Harry telepathically that I'm sure his will arrive on his birthday, which won't be that long since it is about a month away.

Petunia was unable to get Mrs. Figg to babysit Harry, as she wasn't feeling well, so after eating a heavy breakfast with birthday cake as desserts, we made our way to the zoo in Vernon's car. We had fun at the zoo, and Harry was making a few friends at the reptile house. Unfortunately the interesting conversations Harry was having was interrupted by Petunia and Vernon who dragged us off to lunch. I was irritated, for Harry hasn't been so happy in a long time, ever since Aspen took off to parts unknown about a year ago. The adder disappeared from our lives without warning, after our second visit to Diagon Alley. Harry was distraught and was torn between blaming himself for not taking better care of Aspen and feeling betrayed that his snake friend abandoned him. Although I was sad and bewildered by the sudden disappearance of Aspen, I was practical enough to think that it may not have been an entirely bad thing. If Aspen were still around now, Harry would have wanted to bring him along to Hogwarts, and it would challenging to hide the fact that he is a parselmouth with a pet snake. We had agreed earlier on that we shouldn't let anyone else know that Harry could speak to snakes, as it was a trait that Voldemort has and Harry's ability may not be well received by other wizards and witches.

When we reached home it was already evening. I gave Petunia and Vernon 2 cups of tea filled with sleeping draught and got them into bed early, so that Harry and I could finally open the envelope to read my acceptance letter from Hogwarts. There were a few pieces of parchment enclosed, with the first that contains the following:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Dudley Dursley,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

The second page of the letter states the requirements:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_UNIFORM_

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_ plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

_COURSE BOOKS_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

_by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic_

_by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory_

_by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_

_by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

_by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions_

_by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

_by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

_by Quentin Trimble_

_OTHER EQUIPMENT_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad._

_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS_

_ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus, Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_

I was fairly amused by Harry's first reaction having finished reading the letter. "What a lousy rule! No broomsticks for first years!"

Then I was bombarded with happy thoughts on how we had already in our possession, and completed reading, all the books on the list of course books stated in the letter. What's left is for Harry to get his Hogwarts letter, then we can visit Diagon Alley for another set of the course books (since we have only one set between the two of us), the robes and other equipment needed that we did not have in our trunks.

While Harry waiting impatiently for his birthday to arrive, we, or rather Harry did since I have near photographic memory, refreshed his memory by re-reading the first year course books. It was a surprise when the morning of July 15th brought a scream from Petunia and the thundering of Vernon down the stairs to his wife in the living room. The previous night Harry and I had productive but tiring night practicing our magic and slept in a little late the following morning, so we were rudely awakened by the ruckus caused by Petunia and Vernon.

We found the two adults locked in the living room furiously whispering to each other, while Harry and I stood in the hall. I suggested Harry to look through the keyhole since I could easily read their thoughts from this short distance. Petunia and Vernon were discussing the seal on the back of the envelope that she was clutching to nervously. Vernon's suggestion was that they should just ignore it. They came out of the room shortly after, and Harry impulsively blurted out that he wanted his letter, showing his irritation at _letter_ being kept and not given to him. Vernon was furious and looked like he was going to burst a vein. Petunia ordered Harry to his room and basically told him he is grounded until she said otherwise. I could see Harry's fingers twitching and he was thinking of cursing them to get his letter, but I sent a telepathic message to get him to cool down and not be so hasty. Harry stomped upstairs and slammed the door to his room, something that triggered Vernon's violent thoughts, as Harry had never been so openly rebellious before. His reactions weren't what I expected and before I could stop him, he had rushed upstairs, intending to punish Harry. I followed closely behind, hoping to stop him from what he was thinking of doing to Harry. I must admit I panicked for I have never seen him so angry before, and didn't react first enough to stop him from landing the first blow on Harry's face. In my shock and anger, I lost control of my wandless spell to move Vernon away from Harry, throwing him out the smallest bedroom, and down the stairs. To our horror, Vernon lied motionless at the bottom of the stairs, with Petunia screaming her head off at the sight.

_Next Chapter: Divergence_


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